Guest Post: Staying Healthy For The Big Event

Today’s guest post comes from the always adorable, Colleen. I was first introduced to Colleen’s blog a few months ago and I immediately fell in love with her upbeat attitude, positive take on life, and her mutual love of cereal combo bowls.

Colleen is preparing for a very important event in her life, and today she shares with you all her tips for staying on the healthy bandwagon when times get crazy! Take it away, Colleen…

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Hi everyone!! I’m Colleen and I blog over at The Lunchbox Diaries! Let me extend a huge thanks to Courtney for having me over to hang out with you all today!

I like to classify myself as a healthy living blogger, but my life is certainly full of indulgences: Cupcakes, chocolate, happy hours – all of these are treats that I enjoy regularly.

Here’s something else you should know about me: I am a bride-to-be who is not on a diet.

I’ve noticed that when we, women, have a big event looming in the future, we tend to go into freak-out mode about our weight and appearance – as if those are the most important things about us!

Well, ladies (and gents?) I’m here to remind you that it’s okay to relax! Weddings, graduations, senior prom…these are events that come by once in a lifetime (hopefully ). Life is too short and these moments pass by too quickly for us to do anything else but enjoy them.

I’ve become aware of some trends in my life that have helped me maintain a healthy lifestyle, even though I’m planning a wedding! Here’s what works for me:

Stop the stress! Did you know that stress can have the most insane effects on your body? Functioning under stress can actually cause your body to gain weight, among several other negative things (like rationalizing having a McFlurry for breakfast…) So really, take a deep breath!

Indulge. If I tell myself “No more sweets until the wedding” I will without a doubt have a brownie sundae for dinner. Restricting has never worked for me – it only makes me crave the “treat” even more than normal. If you want a cookie – eat it! One snack, treat, or indulgence will not make or break your waistline.

Maintain a normal, attainable workout schedule (that you enjoy!). I already had a fitness routine in place when I became engaged, but I did have a fleeting week of trying to up my workouts by unrealistic means. I wanted to change my 35 minutes of cardio to 60, and I wanted to lift more weights than ever before. You know what happened that week? My workouts bombed. I had set myself up for failure because I didn’t have the time to meet those goals, and I don’t enjoy running on the treadmill for 60 minutes. For me, shorter, more frequent workouts are what work. Find a routine that you like and will be able and willing to maintain even after the big event has passed.

Keep perspective. People, myself included, have the tendency to get caught up in the unimportant things and fail to remember the actual event that got them in such a tizzy. If I spent all my time worrying about a number on the scale, I may very well miss the joy, love, and excitement that comes along with planning to marry my best friend.

These are some things that I keep in mind to help me stay healthy and sane when things around me seem to be going 100 miles an hour. I hope you enjoyed them!

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Thanks again for reminding us to keep it cool, Colleen!

Question for the Morning:

What are your tips for staying sane and maintaining your healthy lifestyle in the midst of a crazy/busy time in your life?

Good tips! I totally broke the mold during wedding planning and was actually less worried about diet and exercise than I had been before. It was odd. I was still stressed though so it obviously didn’t help alleviate that! haha

These tips are all so true! I think that restricting myself and putting on wayyyy too much stress is just not gonna cut it. It’s not healthy, and just doesn’t make me enjoy my life or the event that I should be so excited about.

My tip for being healthy everyday, not just when you’re planning a big event, is to eat at home as much as possible, even when you have to invite friends over to have a potluck.Liv @ The Salty n’ Sweet recently posted..Two Years Later…

Yay for you! I was a bride to be who wasn’t on a diet either. I thought it was so silly that people would change the way they looked just for their wedding day. What’s the point?chelsey @ clean eating chelsey recently posted..7 things about this weekend

Yeah! I don’t understand that. Why do people try to look like someone/something else? That’s not who the other person fell in love with! Weddings can = pure insanity.Colleen @ The Lunchbox Diaries recently posted..Change of Scenery

I love this post and totally agree with you! I’m getting married a week from Saturday (!!!!) and my family was shocked when I ate cake and ice cream after dinner last night. I will NEVER turn down ice cream… ever. My eating habits have not changed much in the 6 months I’ve been engaged; however I have upped my strength training b/c I want my arms to be more toned on the big day. It was a do-able goal and I’m happy with how they look. I’ve also found myself craving strength training since increasing it to 3x (from 1x) a week and plan on keeping it around after the wedding.

You go, girlfriend! They wanted you to pass up ice cream?! Are they nuts?! I agree, toning the arms is something I’m working on too. Totally doable – nothin’ crazy. Congrats on your wedding – it’s so SOON! Colleen @ The Lunchbox Diaries recently posted..Change of Scenery

Awesome tips – The one that I tend to forget about (but it is so true) is that being under stress causes unhappiness which can cause people to gain weight and low and behold – feel more stressed and unhappy. People (myself included) need to relax and enjoy life

this couldn’t have come at a better time, as i’m 2.5 months away from my wedding, and have been feeling like it’s “crunch time”…i felt guilty that my workouts haven’t been intense enough…but i’m not the most athletic, and i’m super lazy, so for me, any workout–even if it’s just walking–seems like a good thing to me. there was a time i tried to go balls to the wall and wanted to run (but after a week, i no longer wanted to go to the gym)

What a great post! What I do to stay sane is make sure I have downtime (which, for me, looks like being at home and having some sort of regularity in my daily life) and going to Zumba regularly. And keep this in mind even after you get married, because life certainly doesn’t slow down after your wedding is over. Lisa recently posted..From The Marketers Desk 2

Great tips! I definitely agree with some of your main points. When I try to workout too much, or cut back on foods that I love, I end up gaining weight and feeling worse about myself! If I just stick to my workout routine and eat what I want, I feel fine!Emily @ Perfection Isn’t Happy recently posted..CoverGirl for a day

I love colleen’s blog! These are awesome tips…whenever I am going through a stressful time, I just make sure to make activity of some sort a priority because it helps keep me sane and releases those endorphins baby! Also, if I deny myself sweets, I obsess over them until I stuff my face and feel sick, so therefore I treat myself with something everyday

What a great post! This is just how I live, too, and it’s worked better to maintain my fitness than any “diet” I’ve ever tried. I make sure to make workouts a non-negotiable part of my life. I think of it like an appointment with myself that I have to keep. It always works for me. Plus, I’m at the point now that I look at working out as more of a hobby that I enjoy than something I *have* to do, ya know? I’m excited to check out your blog since it sounds like we have a lot in common! Melissa recently posted..The Heart Wants What the Heart Wants

I totally agree with all of your tips! It just doesn’t make sense–you should strive for overall health in your life, not just when an important event is coming up! I think it can be a motivating factor, but not a reason to stress.Colleen @ Jimmy Choos on the Treadmill recently posted..Stabbed In The Back

Such great tips Colleen! It baffles me when people cut their food drastically and up their exercise like mad a few weeks before a holiday! Like you, I prefer a more steady, consistent approach! What can i say- i like my food a little too much and don’t have the mental capacity to work out for hours on end!Khushboo recently posted..23 years wiser

What a great post!!! Such great things in mind while i get ready to be a bridesmaid in one of my best friend’s weddings in October!!! trying not to freak out I love Colleen! She’s one of my blogger bff’s =)Brittany recently posted..I did it …

I love the post! Sometimes it is the simplest most obvious things that need to be said! Can’t wait to check out The Lunchbox Diaries!

When I am under a lot of stress with scool, I tend to forget to eat while I am working away and then become FAMISHED after! So keeping lots of fast and easy foods around is HUGE for me. Fruits, veggies, cereals, greek yogurt, chickpear… they are my life savers!Niki (Life’s a Payne) recently posted..Amys Guest Post – Dance Your A Off

going to check out colleen’s blog!
What great advice, and i am defiantly the type of person if I restrict foods I want them even more!
Finding time to have fun but get some exercise in is what I am striving for. With a five year old baseball in the front yard can work up a sweat, and is fun at the same time!

I’m SO glad that you said all that Colleen! I have been engaged a week- and have no idea what to do with myself. My first instinct was to LOSE WEIGHT! But then I feel the same way you do…I don’t want to do it the wrong way! I want to be happy. I want to eat good (real) food and workout in an enjoyable way! Thank you so much for saying all that! On top of the wedding I’ll be starting full time nursing school in a couple of months- keeping stress levels down in a must!